


Private Enemy

by giantessmess



Series: Leap [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, super!cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 20:43:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8504734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantessmess/pseuds/giantessmess
Summary: Several months after the events of Leap, Cat Grant is still visiting Leslie in prison.





	

Visiting hours at the Specialist Unit weren’t the same as those in the rest of the prison. They were non-existent. There weren’t many people clamouring to see Leslie, to see Siobhan. It wasn’t like either of them had great family lives. Leslie may have let slip that Siobhan’s family were _Totally the worst. Though they sure passed on a great set of lungs._

Cat fought hard for things she wanted. She would see Leslie Willis; there was no question about that. The prison would just have to make allowances and fit it into her schedule, and that was a tall order considering the extra set of responsibilities she’d recently taken on. Hank, J’onn really, was instrumental in her getting continued access. He had since stopped telling her it was a waste of breath. Maybe Kara had said something. He seemed to see some sort of redemption arc in her efforts to connect with Leslie. She wasn’t sure that was her motivation. She just hated to see something stay unfinished when it didn’t need to be. And as far as she was concerned, it wasn’t over with Leslie. Not by a long shot.

Sometimes she came in the evening, after she had finished in the office, but before she was due to meet Kara. Other times, like now, she arrived in the middle of the day. And when she did, she simply walked up to the containment area and sat down without apology. Leslie would nod a hello, as if there was nothing strange about this arrangement.

“Whirlwind is a stupid name, you know,” Leslie said, as an opening. She was eating what passed for lunch in that place. Cat couldn’t smell it through the cell’s chemical barrier, but it looked like dog food, mixed with rice.

“Oh please. Livewire’s hardly inspired.”

“Don’t you even. Think of all the terrible electricity puns I could have settled on. Sparky? Buzz? Electra?”

“I’m glad you spared yourself from resembling a cartoon dog, or from a starring role in a Greek Tragedy.”

“It’s just…really? Whirlwind?” Leslie said. “Sounds like the name of a Bay Area performance artist, specialising in scarves and harp music.”

“I still don’t know what that has to do with me.”

“Oh stop being coy, Cat. I’ve had hundreds of opportunities to whisper your little secret to someone in here, and I haven’t.”

“Maybe because nobody wants to get within fifty feet of you.”

“Oh, my poor feelings. How you wound me.”

“I didn’t choose it,” Cat said, flatly. “Some jackass underling at the Tribune ran it in a story, and it blew up.”

Leslie cackled with laughter.

“Oh God. I hope you fired him—had to be a dude, right?”

“Of course it was,” Cat said. “And no. I was advised that it would look too suspicious.”

“Sucks,” Leslie shrugged. “Though you did brand your little pet superhero, right? Bet it’s not so fun when someone does it to you.”

“That simpering little worm didn’t brand me, he barely knows the basics of grammar.”

“At least you aren’t stuck with The Flash,” Leslie said, taking a bite of her lunch and pulling a face. “Ugh.”

“Was that sound directed towards the food or the imagery that name inspired?”

“Both,” Leslie winced, dropping her fork into the plastic tray. “I’d say taste this, and tell me it’s not some failed medical experiment, but there’s this pesky blue wall in the way.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Cat said. “It looks vile, I believe you.”

“Slow death by malnutrition.”

“You should see what they put in public school lunches.”

“Let me find the tiniest violin,” Leslie muttered, pushing her food tray away. “Are you ever gonna tell me where you got your powers?”

“Best Buy,” Cat said. “Amazon delivery was going to take too long.”

“Oh, you’re so funny, just hilarious.”

“I like to think so.”

“At least you aren’t called Silver Banshee,” Leslie mused.

“Poor, poor Siobhan.”

“I know. It sounds like a deviantart account, full of winged Supernatural actors with _Panic! At The Disco_ lyrics superimposed on them.”

Cat snorted. 

“You certainly show the same level of loyalty to everyone.”

“Oh, don’t go feeling sorry for little miss screamer. She’s truly the most pathetic buzzkill.”

Cat shot her a glare. 

“Oh that wasn’t a deliberate pun, calm down,” Leslie muttered. “Have you talked to her? I mean really talked to her? Her self-pity could curdle milk.”

“I do know that, yes.”

“Seriously, we all have daddy issues. Nobody made you go on a rampage, princess. Suck it up already.”

“Your ability to downplay her personal tragedy is truly staggering.”

“Oh come on. You of all people,” Leslie said. “Go write her a sonnet, and leave me be if you feel so sorry for her.”

“I don’t feel sorry for her. She’s insufferable.”

“Because she tried to get your little girltoy fired.”

“Shut it, Leslie. I won’t ask you again.”

“Then spare me the _poor Siobhan_ lecture.”

“Do you talk to her in here?”

“No,” she shrugged. “And I don’t want to.”

“Interesting.”

“Don’t try and analyze me, Clarice.”

“Oh, please. Hannibal Lector is far more charming than you are. And I bet his diet is better.”

“Oh more comedy? Wonderful.”

“All for the joy of entertaining you, Leslie.”

“I’d prefer the gift of food. Seriously, if you can get me something halfway edible, I’ll confess to almost anything,” Leslie muttered. “At this point, I’d give my own mother for a ribeye.”

“I bet you hate your mother, though.”

“I do.”

“Not that powerful a statement, then.”

“Do you wanna know something?” Leslie said. “Like, really know something?”

Cat nodded.

“She hasn’t even asked after me, not once. Daughter on the Five O’Clock news terrorizing the city? Not enough to warrant a hello.”

“Maybe….” Cat shrugged. “She could be scared of you. Not to give you an ego boost, but you do scare a lot of people.”

“Not you though.”

“I did wipe the floor with you, as I recall.”

“Touché,” Leslie said. “It’s not that though. Nothing scares that woman. I swear she’s part demon.”

“That would explain a lot.”

“Don’t,” Leslie said, her voice cracking little. “Don’t make a joke right now.”

Cat sighed.

“Ok.”

They were silent for a little while.

“Your mother...” Leslie started.

“We’re not discussing my mother.”

“Does she know about you?”

“No,” Cat said. 

“So all of that…it’s not a family trait?”

“Not that I know of.”

“It’s not like I wanted her to do anything, say anything,” Leslie said. She seemed angry. Angry at herself for caring, for still talking about this. “But nothing? Fucking nothing?”

“I’m sorry, Leslie.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Would you…” Cat hesitated. “Hurt her?”

Leslie shot her a baffled look.

“No. _Jesus_ , Cat!”

“Well, forgive me, you seem pretty indiscriminate during your electrical hissy fits.”

“She’s my goddamn mother.”

“I see.”

“No, you don’t see.”

Cat sighed. 

“You are the most confusing person I know.”

“Here we go.”

“No, don’t get defensive right when we’re onto something with some meat to it. Own your shit, Leslie.”

“And how am I not _owning my shit_ , Whirlwind?”

Cat rolled her eyes.

“You’re angry, pissed off. At everyone—at your mother, I’m guessing. Supergirl, me…”

“Oh spare me.”

“The problem is you, it’s not us.”

“Ugh, I’m gonna throw up. You’ve spent far too much time with that earnest little superhero.”

“Maybe,” Cat said. “But tell me: say you get out again. You go around the city, you kill Supergirl, you kill me. Not your mother though for some unknown reason—”

“I said to shut the hell up—”

“So you blow out the power grid, electrocute the mayor. Or hell, the president. Burn the whole country to the ground. Mission accomplished! We’re all dead,” Cat shot her a challenging glare. “Then what? What does a mass-murderer plan for an after-party? Or do you die too? Is that the big finale? Nobody left to kill but yourself.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“You tried to kill me, Leslie,” Cat said. “Three times…no! Four. God, I’m actually losing count. Think about that for a second. I’ve been pretty fucking accommodating so far, avoiding the pathetic elephant in the room.”

“Stop…”

“What? It upsets you? Talking about this?”

“No!”

“What was it you said about Siobhan just before? Suck it up already, Leslie.”

Leslie kicked at the table containing her tray, sending it clattering to the ground. She stood up and clenched her fists, her jaw. She wouldn’t look at Cat, not directly. She walked to the other side of her cell. Cat could tell she was breathing deeply by the way her shoulders were rising and falling.

“Get out.”

“What, can’t take a little interrogation? The big bad Livewire?”

“I said get the fuck out!”

Cat stood, trying not to feel disappointed in Leslie. She hadn’t expected a civil conversation, but she’d expected a conversation. A protracted yelling match. Something.

“And what if I stayed? I can cancel the rest of my day. I’m sure the guards wouldn’t mind. I can wait you out. But what can you do? So abandoned by the world, in your lonely little box.”

Leslie’s shoulders were truly shaking now. 

“Please, stop,” she sounded furious but her voice was thick, like she was choking back her emotions. “What do you even want from me, Cat?”

Cat let out a breath. 

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” Leslie snapped, and it was clear when she came closer that she had been crying. She wiped her face angrily. “Do you get off on this? Pushing my buttons?”

“You can’t argue the high ground from where you stand, Leslie,” Cat said, all vehemence gone from her tone. She simply felt tired. “I wouldn’t try it.”

“But you can? Do you enjoy this? Seeing me here, poking me through the bars.”

“You don’t have bars.”

“Oh shut it,” Leslie said. “You know that it’s a slippery slope, don’t you. Between where you are, and where I am.”

“I haven’t killed anyone.”

“But you came close,” Leslie said, staring her down. “I know what happened, that night.”

“Stop it.”

“You barely left that building of yours standing.”

“I swear to God, Leslie—“

“Did you know, I read in the Daily Planet that there was this one kid? Six years old. You broke his arms, his legs…”

Cat took a breath, then another. She could do this, she was better than this.

“No.”

“No? You’re disputing facts?”

“I’m not falling down that little rabbit-hole of self-hatred,” Cat snapped. “I think you’ve set up camp there. Named the local flora and fauna, made friends with the darkness. I think you get lonely in your sad little hole. I’m not joining you there.”

“Don’t speak in tired metaphors.”

“Only if you abandon those pathetic puns. You’re not a supervillan.”

“Oh? Really? Do you forget where I am, Whirlwind?”

“You are not a supervillan,” Cat said fiercely, standing closer, so they were eye to eye. “You are Leslie fucking Willis. You are just a person. You are complicated and you are cruel. You are violent, but you are smart, gutsy. And funny—and goddamn it, sometimes you can actually be kind.”

“Hah, sure.”

“You are not only the sum of the worst things you’ve done, Leslie,” Cat said. “So stop wallowing in your pathetic demons and come up for air already.”

Cat turned, went to grab her handbag, her jacket.

“Where are you going?” Leslie said. 

“Off to be an annoyingly earnest superhero with a stupid name,” Cat said. “When you’re ready to talk to me like a real person, throw a pebble at your jailers.”

* * *

The breathing exercises. Cat used them for more than controlling her powers. She used them now as she marched outside the prison and stared up at the sky. In and out, slowly, calmly. She wouldn’t cry. Not over this. She wouldn’t scream; not at Leslie. Actually, what she really wanted to do was reach into that cell and throw Leslie against the ceiling like a ragdoll, but the barrier worked both ways. And losing her shit inside the metahuman Specialist Unit? That would truly be the most idiotic way to reveal herself to the world.

She couldn’t go back to work though, not in this state. She grit her teeth, heading somewhere dark and deserted. She found an out-of-the-way place to change. Launching into the sky, she flew fast, but without purpose. Her heart was hammering, but it had nothing to do with how high she had soared, how quickly. It was broad daylight. Where were the big accidents? Why wasn’t a monster threatening the city so she could take this frustration out on something concrete?  
  
Right now Supergirl was still Kara Danvers, Catco reporter. Cat was on her own with her rage and no help in directing it. She did a cursory loop around the city and felt immediately guilty for being grateful to find a bank robbery. It didn’t take long enough. The handful of criminals came out of the bank, took one look at her coming into landing and dropped their bags, bolting. Cat rolled her eyes. Gave chase and easily knocked them down with a wave of her hand. It wasn’t enough. The cops were there to take over within moments, and she was left soaring into the air again. Alone. With some effort, she managed to find people needing help. Someone trapped in a car wreck. A lost child who she flew home to grateful parents. It was several hours of small acts of kindness later, and she didn’t feel much better. She headed home, landing on the roof of the building. Kara must have heard her approach because she was waiting with a latte, of all things, in her hands. Still dressed for work, Kara had her glasses propped on top of her head.

“You came home early?” Cat asked. But she gratefully took the coffee, amazed at the calm that descended the moment she locked eyes with Kara.

“It’s after five, Cat,” Kara said, her voice had some concern in it. “You left early, though.”

“I had….things…”

“I saw,” Kara smiled. “Lots of helping little old ladies cross the street.”

“I didn’t do that.”

“You know what I mean,” Kara shrugged. Nodding towards the door that led to the stairs inside. “You should get changed. I made soup. Well, ok. Bought it.”

“Soup?”

“Seemed like a soup sort of day. Carter requested it, anyway,” She watched Cat take several swigs of her piping hot coffee, the concern not leaving her eyes. “Are you actually ok?”

“I’m fine.”

“Cat,” Kara said, her tone making it clear she didn’t believe that for a second. “Remember how we made rules? It’s dangerous to go out flying if you’re in this kind of mood.”

“I’m not out of control, Kara,” Cat snapped. “Like you haven’t flown angry before.”

“I didn’t say I was perfect,” Kara said. “It’s just…you have to call me. We need to be open with each other, or we can’t be any use out there.”

Cat sighed. She yanked her mask off and rubbed at her face tiredly.

“I saw Leslie today.”

“I know,” Kara said, simply. “Alex may have heard about it from Hank.”

“Then why did you wait for me to tell you?”

“Because I know how much you hate being pushed.”

Cat managed a small smile, walking into Kara’s outstretched arms. She let out a sigh, enjoying the strength of Kara’s arms around her. She would stay here, just like this, forever if she could. Kara kissed her forehead and pulled back a little to look into Cat’s eyes. 

“Why do you keep visiting if she makes you so upset?”

Cat felt herself shrug against Kara.

“It’s not that simple. She doesn’t…” she thought on it for a moment, realizing the truth. She smiled a little, to think of it. “I guess she's my friend.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted more from the depiction of Livewire in the series. I find 'evil' more interesting when it has some kind of depth to it. I guess this is my cursory attempt at tackling that. Plus, I'm a little smitten with the idea of my fanon Cat and Leslie having a Professor X and Magneto type of 'friendship'.


End file.
